Downtown Lodi Now and Then

Downtown Lodi

In 1902 Lodi was a thriving town of 1600 inhabitants. Located on the Southern Pacific Railroad fourteen miles north of
Stockton. It was the second town in size and business in San Joaquin County. There were two wineries and a cannery, enabling the farmers
to find a ready market for their fruits and Vegetables. There were five churches, public and high schools, bank, wells Fargo Express
office and telegraph and telephone offices.

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articles may contain errors, bias, duplication, or need to be cleaned up. Some documents, images and logos contained in these documents
belong to various organizations and corporations. Their inclusion here is for the benefit of the reader and for the benefit of the
particular organization, but they are, in fact, the copyrighted property of those organizations.

17 S. Church St. - Guild Cleaners - Guild Cleaners opened by Dwight Alquist at 115 W. Pine street in 1947. They moved to this 17 S. Church
location in 1959. The business was purchased by Jack Alquist in 1989. Photo courtesy of Jack Alquist. Still there

Church & Walnut - St Anne's Hall -

220 S. Church - De Vinci's Restaurant / Former Heilig-Meyers when it closed in 2000 / Former McMahon's Furniture Store

Hill House, 826 S. Church St. Built in 1901, the Hill House was the home of George Washington and Mary Lewis Hill and their two children.

Hill was one of Lodi’s earliest pioneers who opened a jewelry store in 1870. He and his wife, Mary, had a daughter, Nellie, and a son, Maurice.
In 1901, they built their grand, two-story Victorian home at 115 S. School St., across from the Post Office. George hired twin brothers Ed
and Fred Cary, the finest builders of the time.

The Hills and Mary’s sister, Daisy Pleas, moved into the home. Pleas worked as a watchmaker at Hill’s store and was believed to be California’s
first female watchmaker. The home was the scene of many social functions for the United Methodist Church and other groups. Both children were
talented pianists, songwriters, and artists. By the late 1930s, Maurice was the only family member left living in the house.

In 1948, Lodi’s Downtown had grown, and it was uncomfortable to live in the residence. So Maurice had the house moved. That year the house
was cut in half and moved to its present location, about six blocks away at 826 S. Church St.

In 1984, Maurice Hill died. In his will, Hill left the house and its original contents in a trust with the stipulation that the collection be
turned into a museum so the people of Lodi could see how people lived in the early years.

Today, the Lodi Historical Society and its volunteers open the house and lead tours every Sunday afternoon.

1413 S. Church St. Mar Y Tierra Restaurant Taqueria

Daisy between Sacramento and School Streets - The neon is gone, but the sign lives on - September 28, 2013

5 W. Elm St - Saigon Grill Fresh, great service and delicious describes Saigon Grill perfectly! All fresh ingredients... and the fish sauce
is amazing! The atmosphere is really pleasant and the restaurant is clean. It's family friendly and the waitress will gladly help you if you
have questions about the menu or what to order. Lodi Flower Shop (68)

23 W. Elm - Merlot: Venues & Event Spaces / Former State Theatre reportedly opened in 1912. It was a long, narrow theater with a tall,
brick stage house. For many years it was operated by T&D Theatres, but in the early 1950’s was run by Fox West Coast Theatres, who closed
the house in August, 1954.

Various independent operators attempted to revive the State Theatre over the next couple of years, but it was finally converted into a night
club. In 1999, extensive remodeling was done to convert it to its current use, a banquet and reception hall called the Merlot. The Merlot
banquet facility was formerly the state theater built in 1912 and owned by Paramount Pictures. In 1965, it was converted into a night club.
Another remodel in 1999, resulted in the current banquet facility.

27-29 W. Elm - Take 27 / Former Lodi Feed & Fuel / Former Farmers' & Merchants' Bank - When you walk into Take 27, your attention
may be captured by the Tyrannosaurus rex over the bar, the Mr. Spock costume from the "Star Trek" movies, or the John Wayne movie posters on
the back wall. Take 27 is owned and operated by Georgia Steiger of Linden, her husband Choya of Lodi, and her daughter Alicia Schmidt of Linden.

11 N. Hutchins - In 1904 the Salem school was more than crowded with pupils and as more school room was necessary the trustees called for a
bond issue of $25,000 for the purpose of purchasing land and erecting a large wooden building.

The bonds were voted and the trustees purchased a block of land just four blocks from Sacramento street between Elm and Pine streets. They
named it Emerson after the famous essayist, and it was dedicated in 1907, it was the last of the fire-trap school buildings. Emerson School
opened as part of Salem School District located on Hutchins and Elm Streets.

The school was destroyed in 1954 because it was considered unsafe; the City purchased the property in July 1955 and later created a park in
its place.

155 S. Hutchins - Lodi Union High School

Hutchins Street Square, Hutchins Street between Oak and Walnut streets. Hutchins Street Square originally was Lodi Union High School,
built in 1913. It opened for classes on Oct. 6 that year. After some additions in the 1920s, the school facility included a second-story pool
that bridged between the boys and girls gyms and separate buildings for science, music, auto shop and home economics.

Lodi grew and another high school was built further west in the 1950s. Despite the aging buildings, this old campus continued to be used for
high school classes until the spring of 1974.

On March 17, 1974, arsonists, reportedly students trying to burn up records in the office, set fire to the school. Much of the school was
destroyed. As fate would have it, an already scheduled school bond election was held a few weeks later, and voters overwhelmingly saw the
need to approve $13.7 million in bonds. This site was abandoned and became an eyesore while a new Tokay High School was built on the
southwest edge of the city.

In 1980, the city of Lodi bought the old high school site for $475,000, and fundraising began to build the facility today known as Hutchins
Street Square. In the 1980s, condemned buildings were demolished, and the gyms and music building were renovated. In 1990 the gyms were
reborn as a modern Senior Center that operates a day care center for the elderly and big hall available to rent for private functions. In
1998, the Square’s final project — the Performing Arts and Conference Center — was completed. Hutchins Street Square today is the busy
venue for band concerts, plays, high school proms, weddings, class reunions, daily senior activities and recreation classes taught in the
upstairs swimming pool.

240 S. Hutchins - Giant Frosty Frozen Desert (68)

305 S. Hutchins - Former Mr. Pickles Sandwich Shop Originally Pioneer Chicken back in the day. Togo's opened soon after Pioneer Chicken
closed up. And Mr Pickle's replaced Togo's in this location. George's Music Center, was here, approximately 1957-1964. it was later sold and
became the Music Box until it moved a bit later.

321 S. Hutchins - Java Stop / Former Milk Stop (68)

815 S. Hutchins St - American Legion Park

1030 S. Hutchins St - Kiley's Diner Theatre / This was also known as Helwig's Corner. Herb Helwig had the Helwig's restaurant from
1962-1973 (and it was a German Smorgy), and his daughter Phyllis (Lehr) ran a beauty parlor in one of the suites on the right. It was the
Three Bears restaurant after that and then Mountain Mike's Pizza.

Lodi Grape Bowl - 221 Lawrence St - The Lodi District Chamber of Commerce and a citywide committee determined a stadium was needed in the
community. City Engineer Clinton Henning drew up the plans, and the City Council submitted the application for WPA funding. The June 8, 1939
Lodi News-Sentinel carried the front-page news that President Roosevelt approved the application and designated $113,296 to build a stadium.
The Stadium was completed in 1940. The Lodi stadium hosted two bowl games. The games were held in 1947 and 1948 and were called the Grape
Bowl. The name stuck with the stadium even though there were only two Grape Bowl games held and it is still called the Grape Bowl to this day

East Lockeford

Many streets and roads in San Joaquin County towns have been given the name of the town to which they lead.

2 E. Lockford and Sacramento Street - Mason Fruit Company – 1915 – Founded by Wilton, Herschel & Lewis Mason – The building included an ice
cream parlor. Dr. Wilton was the first Dr. in Lodi. Photo courtesy of Theodore Mason

Lockeford & Sacramento looking West

8 E. Lockeford - Tokay Liquors

1931 3 window Plymouth Coupe east bound on Lockeford St. at the Southern Pacific Railroad Tracks

413 E. Lockeford - The Lodi Grape Festival & National Wine Show Association, Inc. is a non-profit organization contracted by San Joaquin
County to produce the annual Lodi Grape Festival and Harvest Fair and Lodi Spring Wine Show, and manage the fairgrounds on a year-around
basis.

As a part of the fair system of the State of California, overseen by the California Department of Agriculture, Division of Fairs and
Expositions, the Festival Association receives NO tax dollars for support – revenues generated from activities on the fairgrounds are used to
maintain the grounds and service programs during fair time and throughout the year.

1320 W. Lockeford - Former Apple Marketplace / Former Landucci's / Former Sell-Rite / Apple Market opened in 1999 and was one of the few
grocery stores in northern Lodi. I believe it closed in December of 2012 and being replaced by an In-Shape Health Club

Lower Sacramento Rd. The original 1913–1927 Central Valley Route of Lincoln Highway departed Sacramento southbound on Stockton Blvd to Rt 99,
then southbound on 99 to Galt, then south on Lower Sacramento Rd through Woodbridge to Pacific Ave and El Dorado St into downtown Stockton

5-9 W. Oak St. - The Imperial Hotel was located at 5 West Oak St. from 1912 until its closure in 1989. Among the early proprietors of the
Hotel were Mrs. Henrietta Monroe (1915-1916) and Mrs. Margaret Walker (1917). The Imperial had about forty-five rooms and catered to
salesmen and middle class travelers.

23 N. Stockton St - Directly to the east of Japantown’s commercial core, the Buddhist Church on Stockton Street was the only formal religious
organization for Lodi’s Nikkei. Beginning in 1906, small groups of Japanese men traveled to Buddhist services in Sacramento and then Stockton.

In 1929, the Buddhist Church of Lodi was formed and raised $3,000 to purchase and remodel a former lumber mill at 23 Stockton Street.
Attorney George Steele, Mayor of Lodi at the time of evacuation, oversaw the Church property during WWII, and the church served as hostel in
post-war period.

The former lumber mill was replaced with a new building in 1955,which was extensively renovated in 1993, and stands today next to the 1964
Annex Building.

The Buddhist Church of Lodi, and the JACL Hall across Stockton Street, remains as a treasured gathering place for Japanese Americans and
host to the entire community at the annual spaghetti feed and Obon festival.

Over the years, the Lodi Arts Commission has striven to incorporate art into the city’s landscape. The Art in Public Places budget is
directly funded through the Lodi City Council, Lodi Arts Commissioner Ben Burgess said, and has been allocated in part by construction and
renovation impact fees. There are a series of 12 photos in this mural called “Japantown Memories” mural, 23 N. Stockton St. By Tony Segale.
Dedicated June 2009.

“Celebrate the Harvest,” corner of Oak and Stockton streets. By Rowland Cheney. Dedicated October 2009.

200 S. Stockton Street - Former Salem School - Today the parking lot of Smart & Final. The bell is at Lodi Lake

2545 W. Turner Rd - The Wine & Visitor Center is a great introduction to the delicious wines of the Lodi Appellation. Expert staff will lead
guests through a guided tasting of some of the region’s finest wines. The Visitor Center features hundreds of Lodi wines from the nearly 80
local vintners offering guests a truly unique experience. Eight wines are served on a daily basis, and the wines are rotated weekly.

6100 E. Victor Rd. The tiny Roma winery was already in existence in 1915 when brothers John Battista and Lorenzo Cella bought the winery,
then located in Lodi. In 1933 the company bought the Santa Lucia Winery, and the entire operation was moved to Fresno. By the late 1930s Roma
had become the world's largest wine producer. In 1942, the Cella family bowed out and sold to Schenley Industries (the first corporate wine
takeover?) and that company broadened Roma's scope even further.

320 N. Washington St. - The American Legion Memorial building under construction in the 40s

333 N. Washington St. - Lodi Armory - Originally built and used as an armory for the National Guard, the building was an assembly
point for the first wave of eight hundred Lodians of Japanese descent on May 18, 1943, who gathered here for the bus trip to the Stockton
Fairgrounds Assembly Center before being relocated to Rohwer War Camp in Arkansas. During and after World War II, the National Guard used the
Armory for training and storing equipment. In 2002, the City of Lodi leased it for five years, with the intention of using it for
recreation. In 2009, an adult women's dodgeball league began to play there while the National Guard was not using the building for training.
When the Iraq War began, National Guard units shipped out from the Armory.